The New Legacy
by N.K. Svenski
Summary: Before Courier Six died, he discovered a secret; Area 51. Mostly protected from the nuclear apocalypse of 2077, it is full of unknown dangers, and perilous journeys. He hid the information he found on a holotape inside of his bunker, back in the Mojave. One man discovered this, many years after his death. He decides to don the weapons and armor of the Courier, and journey there.
1. The End of the Beginning

The Courier was old. Older than he should be, for in all his life, he had never thought he would have lived this long. He was too old now to be doing any sort of work, besides buying supplies, and ammo for the .44 he still wore, holstered at his thigh.

As he moved to the entrance of his bunker, a steel door painted brown to blend in with the landscape, he thought about his life. What he had done. What he could have done differently. There was a lot of time to think as pushed into the password to disarm all traps he was about to come upon. After a twenty minute walk to the end of the corridor, he turned, and watched the steel door close behind him.

The Courier drew his .44, and aimed it at the monitor on the wall, beside the now-closed door. He shot it. This put his bunker on high alert. It would stay this way, until someone skilled came along, someone worthy of owning the treasures he stored here. The bunker itself was a military version of a Vault. Much like the hidden bunker the BoS used. It was abandoned, and he had brought all of his weapon and armor - which was in itself a fortune in caps - here, and stored it in the final room. He had set the traps himself, and for twenty years he had come and gone, but now...

There would be no more going, for him. It was his time. As he limped over to his chair, using a wooden cane, he stopped a moment, and looked at the legendary armor he wore, stored in a case protected by a see-through glass. It was pre-war Riot Armor, modded by himself, of course. The outfit had been a signal that the legendary Courier was there, protecting those in need. Most of the Mojave believed him a hero. There were those, however, that knew the deeper depths of what he'd done. As he sat down and thought, he remembered Ulysses, the ex-Courier who had led him to the Divide, many years ago. He didn't remember it, but the Divide used to be better. It was the Courier's own fault that it was what it was. A memory came back to him.

"I'm sorry. I was the one who destroyed the Divide, and made you follow me. But I can't undo that." Courier said, apparently talking to ED-E, an eyebot who he had found in the Divide.

It was apparent that someone was talking through ED-E, when a deep, gruff voice obviously not belonging to a robot was heard from the eyebot. "I do not blame you for the Divide, Courier." Ulysses paused. "I blame you for what you made me see.".

The Courier snapped back to reality. He sighed, as he remembered the full conversation.

He took his .44 from it's holster, and laid it on the table, under the armor case. He opened a cabinet under said table, which revealed a safe. Pressing in the combination, He took out a key. He turned, walking to a door, a normal one which would have been seen in an office or house, before the apocalypse of 2077. He put the key into the lock on the door, and turned it. Opening the door revealed a large room, which, had the Courier not seen it before, would have left him in awe to last years. The inside of the room was massive armory, full of weapons and armor, some of which had not been seen for a very long time in the Mojave, others were one-of-a-kind. He walked to the back corner of the room, and picked up a long steel case, blowing the dust off. He opened the case, which revealed a customized hunting rifle. There was a box of .308 ammo behind it. Holding the rifle by the scope, he lugged the ammo box back to his position in the main room. He closed and locked the door to the Armory behind him.

He set the ammo box on the ground, but laid the hunting rifle above the .44, now under the armor display case. He put the key next to both of these, and then sat down. He looked at his old, tattered trench coat. He took out his holorecorder from a desk beside the table, and put it so his old, tired face could be in view.

"I am old now. So old. My time, I fear, has come. If you are seeing this, then you are the worthy. I am sure stories will be told of me in the future, however far away that future might be. I, am Courier Six." He stopped talking as he coughed. "Next to this holotape, you will find a revolver, a rifle, and armor. Should the worst come, I hope that someone will have found the clues to my vault by now. You, whoever is seeing this, must take this armor, and rifle, and revolver. You will take these things, and become the Savior of the Wastes, just as I have. This, you must promise me, even if I am dead." He paused again. "If you are here, that means you have a special talent. Like I did. Next to me, is a desk. Inside it you will find a container. Inside are holotapes of mine. Watch these, if you will, and you will hear the history of a man. A broken, old man. For I am not as much as you think I am. I am a man who was provided a road." He looked into the center of the recorder. "I must warn you. This road, is a long and hard one. Full of sacrifices, troubles, and pain. Selflessness, bravery, and valor are a must. By taking these weapons, this armor, you become the Protector. By taking these weapons, this armor, you can never go back to your old life. Think long and hard before you do this. For now... I must rest. I am tired, and I have not slept in a long time..." he stopped recording.

Before he closed his eyes, he thought about all that he had done. All of his great evils, and all of his good deeds. There were many of both.

But for now... Courier Six, The Legend, the Myth, the Savior of the Wastes, the Protector, the Destroyer, the Divider...the Man, closed his eyes, for the last time.


	2. Reborn

YEAR: 2343.

The 34-year old male had waited for three years to find this door. It was the same door that belonged to all other Vaults, except it had no number on it. He could only assume it was because it was for a special purpose. Nathan stepped forward, and looked at the console beside the large door. The door stayed in place, but wasn't locked from the inside. He looked around on the console for a moment before finding the button to open it.

As soon as it started moving, Nathan's plasma rifle was up, ready to be fired. He had as much ammunition for the rifle as he could fine, as microfusion cells were costly and rare. Behind the vault door, was the normal lead-lined, steel floor. Which was unusual. Normally, right where the door opened was where the rock began and ended. This further raised his suspicions about the vault being for some special purpose.

He walked slowly inside, his boots making the faintest sound as he stepped along, his plasma rifle at the ready. Besides this, he had a few plasma grenades, a .357 revolver, and a combat knife. Most of the supplies he had he had stolen, as there wasn't another way he could get them, his caps were low.

The room opened as any normal vault entrance looked, a second terminal available to close and lock the door from the inside, not to mention all of the other consoles that were to his left and right. He presumed they didn't work, but this didn't look like the other vault he had seen. This other vault in particular had given him nightmares that still last. Rusted and old, the vault looked like something straight out of hell, and Nathan had not hesitated to quickly get in, look around and get out.

On the other hand, this vault was neat and polished, with only the faintest sign of movement on its steel floors. Odd. This confirmed his suspicions of that 'special purpose' idea, as there was no other reason. Other than the vault being occupied which...was basically impossible. If not all, then maybe all but one or two vaults were still inhabited by creatures other than insane survivors, bugs, or...some other unknown horrors.

It was well known that the people at Vaults had special duties they performed, thus resulting in odd, sometimes bizarre experiments being conducted in the vault. This, more than anything else, usually is what caused the deaths of the Vault residents. This was hopefully not the case, as, no matter what, he would not go into another vault like the one he had seen before. He had forgotten the number of said vault, though this was no accident. He never wanted to see it again, even though he feared he might have to. For some unknown reason.

Right now, he was pursuing the myth of Courier Six, a legendary Courier who single-handedly changed the fate of the Mojave forever. It was rumored he traveled other places as well, though, without any credible sources, this was unknown. He, personally, believed it was true. The myth itself was that the Courier, at his time of death had hidden away in a secret bunker, which hid a fortune untold.

The idea of the Courier fascinated him deeply, which was why he was going through this. He only hoped it was worth it. As he reached the first door down a small hallway, he cautiously opened it. This led into a long hallway with several other doors, and he noted small cameras almost tactically placed throughout it. As he stepped forward, he felt a small amount of resistance as he moved his right foot forward. He looked down and noticed he had stepped on a tripwire. He cursed and jumped back as quickly as he could, an explosion breaking the fragile silence of the vault.

Ears ringing, he got up as quickly as he could, and noticed a door to the right in the hallway opening. He raised his weapon, as a Sentry Bot rolled out. It was in bad condition, presumably because it had been kept online all these years. "Stop! Intruder! Must engage." It said to no one in it's flat, toneless robot voice.

Nathan was quick to react. Without missing a beat, he knelt and fired his rifle twice, both finding their mark, as they were only a few feet away. "Sto-" the Sentry Bot had been in mid-sentence as the blasts penetrated it's old exterior, and frying its robotic insides. He figured this one would not be the last, and they would probably try and swarm him.

This was confirmed as he ran up the hallway, one of the Sentry bots came out of each side ahead, as a turret suddenly poked out of the ceiling. It fired 9mm bullets at his current position behind cover. He looked down at his belt, and, coming to no other conclusion, he threw one of his three plasma grenades. The intense blast, lucky for him, destroyed all three hostiles, and left him clear to move forward. The stealthy approach would have been great, but he figured even if he didn't dodge that tripwire, he would have been attacked anyway.

Nathan ran ahead as quickly as his legs could carry him, only stopping to destroy turrets or dodge mines/tripwires. The Sentry Bots fired at him, but missed, as he moved in a zig-zag pattern and their old systems 'could not compute' to coin the phrase. As he opened the hopefully last door, and closed it behind him, he didn't notice the scenery infront of him and sat down, leaning against the door, breathing heavily.

Once he did notice the scenery, he gasped.

About ten feet infront of him, dead in a chair, was who he presumed was the Courier. As he stood up and moved closer, he noticed armor in a display case.

Nathan was a man of guns, action, weapons of all sorts. And in his words, it was the most beautiful armor he had ever seen.

It was Pre-War Riot Armor, heavily customized. There was more armor over the chest, and shoulder padding. He had seen NCR Ranger Combat Armor, and this looks similar, but then again, alot different. The helmet itself looked more like a gasmask, with two nozzles on the left and right side. In itself, it was a darker shade of brown, almost black, but it still, he presumed, would fit into the landscape nonetheless. After that, he noticed the also-customized hunting rifle, and .44 Magnum. It was then his eyes fell upon the dead male in the chair. He looked at his faded hands, and noticed a holotape in them. He pried it out of the cold dead hand, and played it.

After hearing the recording, Nathan had sat against a wall opposite the table, staring at the armor. Around thirty minutes later, he stood up, and walked to the desk beside the table. Sure enough, when he opened the desk and pulled a large box out of it, it was full of holotapes, each separated by a faded out box with writing on it. It went in order, first to last. He picked one towards the end, and played it.

"The final battle of the Divide is over. Ulysses is dead." The voice was obviously younger than the old, gruff voice he had heard on the first tape. He continued listening. "I don't regret what I have done. I only wish it could have turned out a different way. Ulysses, I have learned, was a good man. Setting aside his beliefs in the Legion, he was...a good man." He repeated. Nathan had heard stories of the Legion, who were also destroyed by the Courier. "Despite this, I cannot stop thinking about what I did here. To the Divide. I don't remember it. But Ulysses did. I destroyed this place. I made it what it is. It used to be full of people, just like the Mojave but...better." A sigh could be heard. "For now, I guess the only thing I can do is return to the Mojave. Or maybe someplace else." The sound of armor being put on could be heard, then a click as the tape ended.

Before doing anything else, he explored the rest of the room. He found a locked door, and two cryogenic preservation tanks. Or atleast, that's what he assumed they were. He had heard of something like it when he was a kid, in his village which was now...he sighed. Ontop of each of the tanks control panels was a holotape. He picked up the one on the left and played it.

"Why do I have to take off my power armor again?" A female's voice. "Just do it, Veronica." A sigh, presumably from the female, could be heard. "Fine." There was metal on metal as the power armor was placed on a table. He glanced at a very large storage tank and suspected that was there this armor was. "Veronica...I just want to thank you, for all the help you have given me. I could never have asked for a better companion." He said after a moment hesitation. "Goodbye, Veronica. I'm going to miss you." He said, only the barest hint of emotion could be heard. "What are you talking about?" Veronica said, obviously without a clue. She grunted as she was presumably pushed into the preservation tank. "WAIT-" she was cutoff by the door to the tank closing. A beep or two was heard as the Courier pressed a button. "My journey with you ends here. Good...goodbye...". The tape ends.

The Courier was obviously very close with the female, Veronica. Getting her out of the tank...would be a task for another time. He moved to the next tank, and played the holotape on that also.

A series of beeps could be heard. "I'm going to miss you too, ED-E. It's for the best." A low, long beep was heard next, and Nathan thought he could hear sadness in the tone. "ED-E...I won't be here when you get back. So I need to tell you now." He paused. "You're a great friend, ED-E. You've stayed by me for a long time. I couldn't ask anything more of you." He sighed. "I'm going to miss you. Goodbye, ED-E." He heard another series of beeps, then the door to the tank closing. "Goodbye." The tape ended.

He waited for a while. Then he walked over to the table, and, without hesitation, opened the armor display case. It was about twenty minutes later, he had everything but the helmet on. He leaned against the table, his hands flat against them. This would probably be the most important decision of his life.

Nathan grabbed the helmet, holding it up infront of him. He sighed. "I will take the road least traveled. I will take the road almost none dare tread." He paused.

He slid the helmet over his head.

"I will walk the Lonesome Road."


	3. The Discovery

"I WAS IN THERE FOR HOW LONG?!" Veronica screamed angrily.

"Thirty, forty years, maybe." Nathan had known this was going to be a pain, but he still uncomfortable. He had his helmet on the table beside him, and he was currently running a hand through his jet-black hair.

"WHY!?" She was still screaming, and was obviously angry. She looked like she wanted to punch something - or someone.

"Because..." he paused. Telling her this part was going to be hard.

"The Courier is dead, Veronica." He didn't have anything else to say. He didn't know the Courier like she did. He had only seen and heard his logs. He knew she was sad when her facial expression changed.

"Who killed him?" She said, her expression once again changing to "I'm going to kill you happily".

"Time, as far as I know." he paused for a moment, considering. "I found a coffin in his room." He motioned to a door in the corner of the room. "I put him in it, but I haven't had the time to bury him yet."

"Let's do it now." She wasn't wasting any time.

Twenty minutes later, the coffin was in the ground, and Veronica had in her hand the last dirt that would go over it. "I'll...give you a moment." He stepped away, and could hear her talking quietly, but focused on not listening. That was private. He turned after a minute or so, and walked back over. Veronica didn't say a word, but through the last dirt on the spot. They had already dug a sign, and he and Veronica had worked together to make a sign.

"_HERE LIES COURIER SIX._

_BRAVE, HONORABLE, AND COURAGEOUS BEYOND A DOUBT,_

_HE WALKED TRAILS NONE DARE TREAD._

_HE FOUGHT MONSTERS WHOSE NAMES WERE SAID IN WHISPERS._

_IN THE END,_

_THE MONSTER THAT TOOK HIM WAS TIME._

_HERE LIES THE COURIER._

_WHO HAS REACHED THE END _

_OF HIS LONESOME ROAD."_

No one would come to this grave. It was a private memorial. The Courier would have liked nothing more. He would stay undisturbed for many years to come.

They stood there for a long time, looking at the grave. The end of Nathan's coat moving lightly in the desert wind. Veronica was lightly sniffing, her eyes red from crying. Nathan understood. They had seen alot of things together, ever since The Courier found her at the 188. Although Nathan had never met the man himself, he still believed Six to be a great man, who has done some evil deeds in his lifetime. Everyone did in the Mojave, it was inevitable. But few had the courage, the strength to rise above the rest, and become something more. NCR, Legion, Mr. House, they were nothing compared to him. Courier Six would remain the best there ever was.

It wasn't long afterward they were back inside. He left ED-E's explanation to Veronica, who knew him better. He could hear various loud beeps and some quiet ones coming from the room, but left them in solitude for now. In the meantime he listened to some more logs of the Six's.

"So what do we do now?" Nathan asked several minutes later, as they were all in the room together.

ED-E beeped for a very long time.

"How do you understand him?" Nathan asked incredulously.

"You get to understand it after a while." Veronica answered. "You want me to translate?"

"Please do."

"Okay, so, the Courier wouldn't have wanted to lead someone here if there wasn't a reason. There was probably something that he found in his travels, but he couldn't do anything about it at the time. So he devised a plan to have someone do it for him, evidently a long time after he was gone."

"Well, how would we find out?"

"Does he have logs?"

"Yes, but I'm guessing it's only the general history." He didn't mention the logs of when they were both put in the preservation tanks.

"He probably hid them somewhere.". ED-E beeped his agreement.

"Well we better start searching, then."

The first place they started looking, naturally, was his bedroom. The safe was no luck, and there was nothing under the bed, in his nightstand, or anywhere else. The guest rooms yielded no results either, and the armory wasn't much better (no surprise there).

"Well, shit." Nathan cursed. "Where are we going to look now? There was nothing on his personal terminal, his other logs, nothing."

Veronica was thinking, looking past him when she noticed something evidently behind a large container. It was a darker color than the rest. "There!" She exclaimed.

They moved the container easily, as there was little-to-no objects in it. The object in question was black case, which was smaller than a save and was not built into the wall. They withdrew it from it's position. Bringing it to the table and opening it, they found only a single holotape inside. They played it.

"I assume by the time anyone is hearing this, I am most likely dead. If not, then the more time you have to act. If so, the opposite. In my travels, I once went to an Old World Facility, located about 80 miles North of Vegas. Upon further exposure to the site, I've discovered it was once a top-secret research facility, and, from what I discovered, it was called Area 51." There was a pause and cough, and in the silence, footsteps on dirt could be heard. "I have also discovered a disturbing secret; the place is equipped with nuclear missiles, much like the ones I found in the Divide, only...more dangerous. The only one that has worked, according to records, is called Project Seven." There was another pause. "I believe it has the destructive power to destroy all of Nevada." Another pause, almost as if for dramatic effect. "I recorded this on a datachip, which I have put under protection on my personal terminal. The password is PROTECTOR. I also have put alot of other data, including some about a project which they called Experiment Zero. While I didn't have time to look further into the file, I believe it is something dangerous. As I finished looking at all of this, I tripped the alarm, and had to run out of there. It's probably still on high alert. If you are going there, be prepared for a dangerous journey. I have no idea what presides in the deeper chambers, and it looked like an old vault. Courier Six out." The tape ended.

There was silence. After a long moment, Nathan and Veronica looked at eachother. "We need to go there. Soon." Veronica said. "Yes. Yes we do." Nathan answered.

Author's Note:

I am in school currently, and thus there might be a day or two between chapters. Please note that I might at some time develop writers block, and will update my most recent chapter to tell you.

Otherwise, I really hope you enjoy the story. I've been playing F:NV alot recently the idea came to me. If you have any suggestions, or corrections (besides unreasonable ones) please tell me.

Bye, and thanks for reading.

-N.K.S.


	4. The Journey

The only hard part was preparation.

The most they could carry on the long journey was a backpack, which was easier said than done. Nathan carried the food, and Veronica carried the ammo. ED-E couldn't carry much, seeing as he was a small robot. They did manage to strap a few things to him, however.

They had managed to stay away from most hostile people by staying off the roads. This did nothing, however, for the beasts that roamed the wastes.

While most (if not all) stayed away from what was left of the roads, they generally were just around a five-minute walk away from said roads. Nathan could deal with most of them, but the most annoying were the Cazadors. While not exactly devastating, their movements were unpredictable and quick, not to mention the poison they administered when they stung you. Nathan had brought anti-venom from the Vault's supply cache, even though he only needed it for himself. Veronica's power armor was much too thick to be pierced by the stinger, and ED-E was a robot. There were only a few places he could have been stung by a Cazador, but he hadn't gotten stung, yet. Hopefully he wouldn't at all.

It was going to be a few days' travel, possibly more. The holotape had included a marker for the Pip-Boy 3000 he had found in the Armory. They had never seen the place before, never even heard of it, so they had no idea what to expect.

The second day, when it was turning dark, was when they decided to sleep. It was dangerous to do so, as they were right around minor fiend territory, but they were already getting tired. ED-E was left outside, and, since he didn't have to sleep, he was basically their warning system and alarm clock. They could only allow about four hours of sleep, as they had to get to this 'Area 51' quickly. Nathan had earlier estimated they had another two or three days of walking before they got in the area, not to mention probably another day of scouting it out, or exploring the topside area.

Nathan had left his helmet on, the only barely glowing eyes looking straight ahead as he dozed off underneath the armor. Veronica, however, had her helmet off, and was obviously not sleeping, just sitting there, and thinking. I wonder what kind of pre-war technology we'll find there...I bet the Brotherhood would kill to find out.. She thought to herself. If the Brotherhood here still exists. Nathan hadn't briefed her on the state of the current factions, besides the Legion and the NCR. She already knew about them anyway, as she had been with the Courier during that time. She didn't have time to think any longer, however, as ED-E suddenly flew inside, beeping loudly. Nathan almost immediately stood up, his .44 drawn "What?" He said, telling he was tired was easy as he sounded sleepy, still. He shook it off.

ED-E repeated his previous beeps. "I think he means to say there are raiders or fiends outside." Veronica translated, and ED-E beeped his agreement.

"Well shit, I was hoping we wouldn't have to fight." he holstered his .44, however, and grabbed his modified hunting rifle. He left the backpack there, he could come back to it later. "How many, ED-E?" He inquired. ED-E beeped a few times, unsure.

"We'll find out." Veronica answered, as they moved toward the cave entrance/exit. While Veronica generally preferred a more up-close-and-personal approach, Nathan had given her a plasma rifle, just in case. Nathan moved to the right and up the slope, eventually taking cover above the entrance to the cave, in between some rocks. It was still night, so Nathan enabled his night-vision, which was built into the helmet on his armor. He saw a few figures moving in the distance. He aimed closer, and counted them. "About seven, probably part of a bit larger raiding party." He said into his comm, so Veronica would know. "They're moving this way, and fast, so we're going to have to engage them.".

Veronica had night-vision built into her T-45D power armor, so she could see them vaguely, but she didn't have the long-range scope Nathan had. She would fire when they got close enough, as plasma was known for being powerful, not accurate.

Looking through the scope, Nathan had a clear shot on the raider in the lead. The only problem was he was moving. The only thing he could do is direct his aim slightly in front of him, and hope he walked into the shot. Nathan aimed at his head, and moved his aim only barely, to the right. He fired, the loud crack of the rifle breaking the silence. The .308 bullet left the chamber, traveled through the air, while the clueless raider walked right into the trajectory of the bullet. The range was slightly far, but it was, nonetheless, an instant kill. The other raiders quickly scattered to what cover they could find, obviously being attacked. As one peeked from behind a rock, Nathan fired, but missed, hitting the rock he was taking cover behind. He could hear the one shouting "He's over there!" and pointing.

Veronica, in the meanwhile, had been moving to flank them, but being silent was easier said than done in full power armor. She managed, however, and started firing at the raiders when close enough, the green beams of plasma directing their attention almost immediately to her. As they moved up to fire, Nathan took the chance to fire at one, hitting him square in the chest. The light armor barely protected him at all as the bullet tore through his flesh, stopping somewhere in between. It was then he chose to get up and run, trying to get closer. One of the raiders fired his 10mm submachine gun, the bullets skimming the armor on his shoulder. This caused him to fall and roll into cover behind a rock.

Veronica had managed to get one of the raiders in the shoulder when she started firing, which had killed him almost instantly. Two of the raiders who were left had directed their attention to her, while the other two were focused on Nathan. Luckily, Veronica had the ammo, not currently with her, but it meant she had previous access to grenades. She had a plasma grenade and a normal frag grenade clipped onto her belt as of current, and picked up the frag grenade. Quickly jumping out from cover, she watched them fire at her, before moving back in a single motion. Now she knew their positions. They were (luckily for her) relatively close to eachother, which meant she could throw it in between them. Okay...time to try my luck. She thought to herself as she moved up from behind cover, and, quickly calculating the distance in her head, threw the grenade. It landed more over to the furthest one, which meant she overthrew it a bit, but it had enough power to kill the second one and knock down the first one. She used this to her advantage, darting forward and, once she got there, putting her foot on the raiders chest. Without giving him a chance to say anything, she shot him in the chest, which left a gaping hole from where the plasma had burnt through his skin.

Nathan, on the other hand, did not have any grenades. He had his .44, his hunting rifle, and his combat knife. With the explosion of the grenade, however, the last two raiders had turned their heads to look, which proved a mistake. Sliding his rifle over his shoulder, he withdrew his .44 from it's holster, and, with surprising speed, leaped forward from cover. He closed the distance between them as quickly as he could, occasionally firing a shot to keep them down, if they chose to look. He jumped over the rock which the first raider was hiding behind, and, feet first, landed on top of him. Instead of shooting his raider first, he turned his aim to the second, who had tried to take aim. Before he could do this, a .44 bullet had pierced his throat, and he fell back, dead. The raider Nathan had landed on, however, had pushed him off after this happened, which resulted in Nathan dropping his revolver. He got back up, however, and, drawing his combat knife, jumped forward, tackling the raider. As they landed, Nathan drove his combat knife into the raider's ribs, which resulted in a loud scream. The raider, being in shock and unable to react, did nothing as Nathan got up and drove the knife into his heart, almost instantly killing him. He wiped the blood off on the raiders armor, and stood up, breathing heavily. Veronica had walked over to him, and took off her helmet, also breathing heavily. "Well." Nathan said after a moment. "That was unexpected.". Veronica chuckled, Nathan chuckled, which turned into full-scale laughing. After a while of laughing, Veronica looked at him. "I think I'm gonna like you, kid.". "I'm not a kid, you know." Nathan replied. "Well, I'm about forty years older than you, so, compared to me, you are."

"Forty years older because of cryogenic preservation." Nathan replied. "But still." Veronica said back.

ED-E floated over to them, beeping urgently. "C'mon, we better get moving again." They started back to the cave to get their supplies.

Meanwhile, a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin named Errant had been following the pair for a while. He and his partner, Paladin Magison, had been issued the order by Head Paladin Cross ever since they had heard rumors of someone on pre-war riot armor and someone in full power armor roaming the wastes. Magison was currently radioing to Head Paladin Cross, while Errant was observing the two from afar on his binoculars. "They just fought off a group of raiders, and seem to be continuing North. We will report back if anything urgent is to happen." Magison said into his radio. "Good. And...make sure you don't attack them unless you absolutely have to, Paladins." He said this to both Magison and Errant. "I have a feeling we're going to discover something good. Radio for reinforcements once you get to wherever they are, if you think it's worth it. Cross out." A click could be heard as the radio went off. "What do you think we're going to find?" Magison asked Errant. "I don't know. Whatever it is, they seem in a hurry to get there." Errant replied. "Do you think it's..." Magison's voice trailed off. "No. It couldn't be. He died years and years ago, remember?" Errant replied quickly. But a part of him was still somewhat unsure.

P.S.

Sorry for the somewhat longer wait guys, got sidetracked.

Hope you like where this is going!


	5. The Arrival

It was about a day after that they discovered (or rather, they hoped they did) the 'Area 51'. After the last skirmish with the raiders, they had only gotten attacked by geckos, the occasional radscorpion or two, and sometimes a wolf. All of these were easy kills, Veronica with her power fists and plasma rifle, and Nathan with his modified hunting rifle.

"Well it's big, that's for sure." Veronica said quietly. Even from a distance, they could see that the compound was massive. Surprisingly massive, as a military base, atleast in Veronica's mind, would be be small, because, from what she had hearn fron Six's holotapes, it was supposed to be top-secret in the Pre-War times.

"No shit." Nathan responded sarcastically. He was sitting beside her, looking at the base from afar. He wasn't doing anything, they were still too far away to see it very well, even with binoculars. As he looked at it, he wondered what they would find there. From what Courier Six had found, there was obviously dangers untold, but there could also be technology that no one had ever seen since before 2077. But the missile Six had referred to...he didn't know what they would do with that. They couldn't destroy it, as, if what Six had said was true, it would take most - if not all - of Nevada with it.

"We should probably get going if we're going to arrive before sundown." Veronica interrupted his thoughts as he got up from her place on the rock, putting on her T-45d power helmet, grabbing her backpack and weapons, and starting to move. As they walked away, Nathan stopped and looked at the facility again. _So, Old World. What do you have in store for us today?_

* * *

Head Paladin cross walked at a brisk pace across the smooth metal floors of the Bunker. The Bunker, while having no specific name, was a Pre-War Vault-Tec military bunker, one of the few of its kind. It was a good base of operations for the Brotherhood of Steel, but this wasn't what Cross was thinking about as he walked towards the Elder's Chamber. What he _was_ thinking thinking about was what his scouts, Paladin Errant and Magison, had reported. Passing the two guards in full T-51b power armor, who saluted as he passed, he entered the Central Chamber of the Elder.

Elder Jonathan greeted him with a friendly look. "Hello, Head Paladin Cross, do you have news to report?" The title was simply a formality; the two were actually close friends. "Greetings, Elder. Might we, erm, speak in a more private location?" Cross asked. The Elder's expression became serious as the question was put forward. "Of course." The Elder got up and walked towards his private chambers, and Cross followed. Once inside, the steel door shut behind them, the Elder spoke again. "What has happened, Sam?" While the statement was serious, the name proved how close they were. "They found something, John. Something big. According to what they saw, it seems to be an Old World military facility." He waited before speaking again.

Jonathan was silent for a while. Such a find would be monumental, as the Brotherhood strived to find technology, like the sort that'd be found in a military facility. "We need to send out troops there, for sure." The Elder finally spoke.

"The only thing we could use are vertiberds, and we don't have many of those. Each one holds about five to ten, and we could only spare two." Vertiberds were surprisingly rare, five of the seven they had they had only gotten because they had discovered an abandoned Enclave base, near Jacobstown. The other two they had found in a 'garage' (of sorts) in HELIOS One, which they had retaken after the Courier had the NCR abandon it. Replacement parts were incredibly rare, one of the few places you could find them were probably in Nellis AFB, which was currently still occupied by the Boomers, who, despite letting some people in - which was a better alternative to blowing anyone who came through the gates up. The BoS was not currently on the best of terms with them anyway.

"We have to. Such a find...it would be incredibly stupid to ignore it." The Elder replied back quickly.

"We don't even know if it's a good find...it could just be a large settlement that was near Vegas." Cross said these words, but he didn't mostly believe them. "Besides, the better route would be to have Errant and Magison to follow them further, and investigate the base. Sending a vertiberd this soon would attract the attention of the two they were following anyway."

"You...you're right. I was getting ahead of myself. Make sure they report back periodically, and tell us if they find anything." Jonathan replied after a moment's hesitation.

"I will, don't worry." With that they both left the room, Head Paladin back to his own quarters to continue with his own duties, and Elder Jonathan back to the Central Chamber.

As he sat down, he thought to himself. _Why now?_

* * *

_On a side note, I apologize for the shortness of the chapter. I had some extra things to do, and it was later at night. _

_Once again, I hope you enjoy, I will be posting again soon!_


	6. The Entry

The land before the facility itself was barren, with only a few rocks to dot the otherwise smooth desert landscape.

It made Nathan uncomfortable, walking across it with no cover. Although he knew they were most likely not in any danger, he didn't like it. He had been in enough encounters in the Mojave to know that it was risky.

It was another few hours before he and Veronica made it to the entrance. There was a large fenced area, a gate along with a checkpoint on the North and South side. They were, obviously, approaching from the North side.

"Thought it would have been harder to get in." Veronica said as they approached.

"Well, they probably had guards here before." Nathan answered back. He had his hunting rifle in an idle position, cautious of anything ahead. He walked, moving under the barrier. A turret sat behind sandbags, though, over time, it had rusted to disrepair. This could mean the same for the security bots that were stationed here, but there was no way to know for sure. He looked at a vehicle, old, slightly rusted, but it looked like it could be working. He walked to it, opening a door. "Well, what are the odds?" He said, mostly to himself, but Veronica heard. "What is it? Is it working?" She asked in disbelief. ED-E beeped his version of the question beside her. Because of the bombs, most - if not all - vehicles had been destroyed or left in disrepair. The vehicle infront of them was a relic in-itself, having not been completely annihilated.

"Dunno yet. Never seen one of these besides the broken ones. No idea how they work." He replied, fiddling with something on the inside of the vehicle. "I found these...keys in the middle compartment..." There were pauses in between words as he was obviously focused on what was infront of him. Suddenly, the vehicle roared to life. "Oh." Was Nathan's stunned reply as he stepped back. He fell to his knees. "No more walking!" He said jokingly, but he meant it. His feet were aching painfully, and carrying the extra supplies didn't help.

"Will it move?" Veronica interrupted. She was skeptic, though for obvious reason.

"We'll find out, won't we?" He replied, sitting down inside of the Old World machine. "Okay...I have no idea what to do." He said after a few moments of looking at the 'controls' infront of him.

"Well...try something." She said, not knowing what to do either.

"Thank you for the help, Captain Obvious." He replied sarcastically. He looked down, and noticed pedals. "Maybe these'll do something."

Veronica didn't have a chance to object once he put his foot down on one, which made the vehicle lurch forward, surprisingly fast. "Woah." Nathan said, surprised. "Um..." he turned the wheel infront of him, which made the vehicle go left and right. "Okay, I think I've got the hang of this."

"Slow down!" Veronica said, they were going surprisingly fast. Nathan let his foot off the pedal and the vehicle slowly lost speed.

"This should help us get 'there' quicker." Nathan said, completely ignoring Veronica's slightly panicked manner.

"You're going to kill us before we get there." Veronica replied, jokingly, though there was a hint of truth in it.

Since Nathan had never driven before, he was reckless. Sure, the vehicles of 2077 had some more 'advanced' safety technology, but that wouldn't really help with a head-on collision with a rock sticking out of the ground, which he came into encounters with many times. The road to the actual entrance of the base was corroded and long-gone, so he had not certain path to stick to. This showed as Veronica was constantly yelling at him to "Slow down!", or "Watch out for that -insert obstacle here-. (it was usually a rock.)!"

It was perhaps a minute and a half later that they arrived through the already-open gate. Driving onto the concrete grounds of the facility, the vehicle they were driving slowly came to a halt. The doors opened, and they stepped out. "Next time..." Veronica said, her power helmet off. "I'm driving. Or flying, or whatever." She was breathing heavily.

"Not my fault that these were meant for people in the Old World who actually_ learned _how to drive them." Nathan replied defensively.

Veronica put her power helmet on. The trunk of the car beeped. "What the-". Veronica started. Then she looked at Nathan and they simultaneously remembered. "ED-E!" They jumped to the back, and opened it. ED-E flew out, beeping angrily. "Sorry ED-E." Nathan said apologetically. In their haste, they had completely forgotten ED-E.

"He must have gotten worse a ride than we did, with your horrible driving." Veronica stated, and ED-E beeped his version of a "You bet I did."

"C'mon, let's move." Nathan said, starting forward.

The base's structures, which looked the same as Nellis AFB to Veronica, were a bit older and a bit more...rustic. They were larger, however. They could see from afar that the hangar contained two very large planes, their wings folded in order to save room. Although at first glance they couldn't tell the smaller buildings apart, being as their signs had been eroded over the ages. "Exactly where should we go first?" Veronica asked, uncertain.

Nathan accessed the map on his pip-boy. "Um...that-a-way." He said, pointing to a large hangar to their right. They got their within a minute. The size still surprised Nathan, however. They had walked through it for twenty. minutes and they had barely gotten through even a small fraction of the base. Which he thought was odd. Something supposed to be this secret, you would think they would make it just a small little outpost instead of a full-on forward operating base. At least, that's what it seemed like.

They noticed more vehicles on their way there, crashed helicopters, large troop transports like the ones the NCR had at Camp McCarran, and small Jeeps like the one they used to drive inside. They walked inside the large hangar, glancing at the helicopters and planes that were stored inside. Nathan repeatedly glanced at his Pip-Boy, at the marker on his 'local' map. It was blinking more and more, which signaled that they were getting closer. "Right...here." They stopped before a large steel door, which was slightly hidden behind some supply cabinets. They opened it.

The steel door slid open, and they stepped inside, the footsteps loud on the metal floor. They went down three flights of staircases before they reached a long, dark hallway.

"Here we go."

* * *

_First, I must sincerely apologize for the wait inbetween chapters. My internet was down and I couldn't get on the computer._

_Second, other people have to use this computer, it being the only one we have, so I won't get to use it as much until they are done._

_Third, I have to thank you for the reviews you have been giving me. It really helps. Don't forgot to give me any suggestions you think of, and keep those good reviews comin'!_

**If you're reading this, then please note that I have only had the chance to update this at school. I hope you're not angry, as I'm trying to write two chapters at a time (you can start reading the other one, just look at my profile). I thank you for the suggestions you have given me, and will try to use them as best I can.**


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